Loneliness

I’ll tell you how I approached writing this video: I cracked my knuckles and got ready to write a rant about tech. But the reality turned out to be more complicated.

It isn’t technology itself that’s driving the loneliness crisis. It’s our obsession with efficiency.

A 7-minute Teams call is more efficient than 34 minutes chatting in the office café. Unless your professor wears a lab coat, you can probably just stream the lecture from bed. And scrolling TikTok is undeniably more stimulating than walking around your neighbourhood with your own thoughts.

But while all of these things are more efficient, they also kill possibility.

The possibility of discovering your colleague secretly watches Alex Jones and has been to the same obscure Greek island as you. Of sitting next to the Brazilian exchange student who becomes your girlfriend for three chaotic months before deciding that “você não é homem o suficiente". Of actually feeling connected to your community when every quiet moment is filled with YouTube, FaceTime or Instagram.

Modern life has optimised away friction. The problem is that friction was often where connection happened.

We’ve streamlined life ruthlessly without really thinking about what gets lost in the process. This video explores how that trade-off may have helped create the loneliest generation in modern history.